Another Bird in the Hand

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

An old proverb meaning that it is better to be content with what one has instead of attempting to get more and risk losing everything.

But what if a bird eats off of your shoe? What is its value then?

If you’re the folks at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck, NC, it’s the chance to educate people about our fine-feathered-friends and their important role in the ecosystem.

Through a process called imprinting, the bird’s natural tendency to latch onto the first thing it sees, generally its mother, they are able to raise the birds with humans taking on the role of the mother. (Mind you, this happens to only a select few birds. The others are raised with minimal human interaction.)

Their view of humans changes, making them open to human interaction.

I got to meet two of these birds during a recent trip to Sylvan Heights: Lola, a Coscoroba Swan, and Sweet Pea, an Andean Goose gosling.

After photographing some of the birds in the hatchery, I was given the chance to get up close and personal with Sweet Pea. I must admit it’s a strange feeling having a bird pecking at your feet, looking for food. And definitely not shy about it at all.

My last up close and personal visit with one of our fine feathered friends was while I was walking my dog, Bossa, around a lake one warm afternoon. A goose took exception to Bossa and decided to open a can of whoop-ass on my 120 pound chocolate lab. Needless to say, my dog is a gentle giant and turned tail and tried to outrun the goose. The only problem was he attached to me by a rather short leash. Picture me being pulled in one direction by a scared lab and trying to fend off a very ill-tempered goose with my opposite leg. Truly, a funniest home video in the making.